Black Caucus to Nancy Pelosi: Hands Off William Jefferson

The Congressional Black Caucus is in open revolt over House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's attempt to discipline Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., after he was caught red handed with $90,000 in alleged bribe money.

And at least one CBC staffer is warning that any move against Jefferson could jeopardize Democrat chances to retake the House this fall.

According to Roll Call, Pelosi checked with key members of the CBC before she told Jefferson on Tuesday that he should resign his post on the House Ways and Means Committee "in the interest of upholding the high ethical standard of the House Democratic Caucus."

Rather than complying, Jefferson defied the top Democrat - and instead accused her of discrimination, arguing that other ethically challenged Democrats faced no such discipline.

Things got uglier on Wednesday when some of the same CBC members who had OK'd the Pelosi putsch changed their minds.
"A members-only CBC lunch meeting produced an emotional consensus that Pelosi had overreached since Jefferson has not been charged with any crimes," said Roll Call.

"One after another, CBC members rallied behind their colleague, arguing that he was being singled out."

"I would say that the people who spoke were very vehement in their opposition," CBC member James Clyburn told the paper.

Jefferson's defenders cited Rep. Alan Mollohan, who was forced to step aside as the ranking member of the ethics committee but permitted to keep his coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee.

"There's no precedent for doing this to someone who has not been indicted," complained CBC member Al Wynn.
By late Wednesday, top CBC members, including Charlie Rangel, John Conyers and John Lewis, had informed Pelosi that the entire Black Caucus would publicly oppose any attempt to discipline Jefferson - a move that could severely undermine African American support in this year's mid term election.

"I think she's taking us down to the point where on Nov. 8 she'll still be the Minority Leader," an aide to a CBC member told Roll Call, in a none too thinly veiled threat.

http://tinyurl.com/mjlyn


So much for Pelosi's fight against the "culture of corruption". Members of her own party told her to mind her own business. Nice.

First reaction...

Man, I hate it when people use minority status as a way to claim descrimination. It's an embarassment to everyone.

Second reaction...

Oh. Newsmax. Do you have any links that are from a more reliable, mainstream source? They've been known to fudge things a bit.

You mean like the New York Times or the LA Times? Of course, they never fudge do they. If you think it is an exaggeration, you can always find an article about it from a more reliable source and prove it wrong. You always have that option.

And now there is more in this "culture of corruption":

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12992866/